Archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam discovered the tablet in 1882 in Sippar, an ancient Babylonian city in present ... and the map itself seems to give an aerial view of Mesopotamia.

This 8th-century miniature, by the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana, depicts the Bible story of Babylonian King Nebuchadrezzar eating grass as divine punishment. Photograph by Granger Collection ...